The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-01-28

L.
Not so with doves. At the first blow OF
the northeaster they fly to the coop. Eagle
contends with eagle in mid-air, and vulture
fights vu1turs on the bosom Of the carcass,
but doves at the drst dash Of the bird Of
prey speed for shelter from fiery sys and
iron beak and loathsome talon.
So to-day these souls come here for
shelter. Every one hiss besetting sin;
that sin is always after you Tbs fobber
watches you when you come out of the
bank; sees in what pocket you put the
money; notices where you go to dine, and
where you sleep, and what kind Of lock
you have on your doors so there is some sin
ever on q mans track. It goes with him
to the store; it sits on the money safe; 1t
looks over his shoulder While he makes out
the bill of Iading; it goes out with him to
dine; it walks home with him at night.
As te some dog that you do not want to
follow you BIT persists, you say to it;
s'Back home with youi'' You stone 1t
away and start on. After awhile, casGaIly
turning your. eye, you find it close after
you with snesking look
Wherever you go, sin geesS where you
stay sin stays. You have watched the
hawk above the barnyard; it sails around
and around over the brood of chick
ems - around and around, now al
most down to the flock, then back again,
until at last it drops and seizes the prey.
There is a hawk ready to pounce en- every
dove; and that is the reason that these
doves come to-day to the windows-they
want shelter in the grace of God and in
Christian associations. They say, f" II
there be any power in your prayers, let me
have them; if there be any virtue in good
counsels, give them to me; if there be any
thing eIevating in ChristiGn associations,
let me feel their influence" 'tWhere thou
dweuest will dwell. Thy people shall be
doors, oh, Church Of Godl and let them
come in ''as doves to their windows"
Christ is the only shelter of the soul in
trouble. What can you do without him
when sorrow comes? Perhaps at first you
take valerian to quiet your nerves or al
cohol to revive your spirits; but have you
found any thing in the medicines or phys
ical stimulants suff1cient9 Perhaps In the
excitement of the money market or in the
tnerrY-fnaking of the club you have sought
relief This world has no balsam for q
wounded soul, no shelter Tor q bruised
spirit.
The dove in the time of the deluge few
north, and it was all water, IN which were
tossed tbs csrcBsses OF the dead world, and
the first solid thing that the dove's feet
touched was the window Of the ark. So
the soul in trouble goes out in one direc-
ton and findsnothing substantial to rest
upon, and in another direction and every
whittier, but there is no rest for the dove
save the ark.
Substantial comfort will not grow
In natures barren soil;
All we can boast. till Christ we know,
Is vanity and toll
But where the Lord has planted graces
And made His glOries known,
There fruits of Heavenly joys are found
And there alone"
You lost parent; som0 one said that it
NO ba FlaC I1r ~ n
your father st1otild expire. Did that COM
fort you9 You lost child; somebody said
If that child had lived it might have turned
out badly. Did that comfort you2 You
lost ybur property; they told you that
riches were very uncertain! You knew
that before. You were sick; they exs
planned to you that the difficulty was m the
secretions or in the sciatlc nerve. Did
that soothe you9 o, the despicable Quack-
cry of earthly comfortl
But when Christ comes to the soul and
says; Il took your estate because I wanted
to give you more valuable treasures; made
you sick in body that your soul might be
brought up to eternal health; took your
loved ones away because l have better
and brighter place for them in My own
presencen-then the wound heals; then
the tears dry of the face; then God has
become the everlasting portion of the soul.
Oh, the air is full of black wings and
ravens beaks. They join their wings of
darkness until they shut out the light of
the sun. They have fattened on the car
casses Of men. Their clangor is horrible
to the ear-trouble and disease and death
coming down on the wind. No wonder
these souls have come for shelter 'tas
doves to their windows" What does the
pigeon in the coop care for the hawk in the
skye Safe in Christ, safe forever. The
mountains may depart and the hills be re-
moved, but Thy loving kindness shall never
fail.
Again, these souls, like doves, fly home.
Most of the aged deniZens have no home;
now they are at the north and now at the
SOUTH as the climate indicates. This year
nest in one tree next year nest in an
other tree. The golden oriole remains but
three months Of the year in Germany, and
is then gone; the linnet of Norway crosses
the ocean to find rest from the winters
blast; the heron, the goldfnch and the
grossbeak are migratory; the cranes call
each other together few days before go
ing, choose their leader, arrange them
selves in two lines, forming an angle, and
are gone.
But the pigeons alluded to in the text,
summer and winter and always, have q
home in the dove1cote. And SO Christ is the
home of those who come to Him He is
warm home; they rest under the feathers
of the Almighty" Christ tells us that
chickens find not warmer place under the
wing of the hen than we in Him. He is q
safe home; our fortunes may go down ten
degrees below zero; the SHOWS of trouble
may fall; the winds of persecution may
howl: the jackals of death NAV stalk forth
all is well, for great peace have they
who trust IN God" From this home we
shall never be driven out. The sheriff may
sell US out of our earthly house, or the fires
. AI1 De uy,avr
away, but that home shall always be ours.
Men talk as though starting for God
were putting out on a trackless moor, or
wandering through the sands Of a great
Sahara. No, no; it is coming to the warm
est and best of homes, q" as doves to their
windows.
Again, these souls to-day gathering for
mem bership are like doves, because they
come in fiocks The buzzard, with dripping
beak, futtering up from the carrion is
alone. You occasionally look up against |
the wintry sky and see a solitary bird |
winging past. But doves or pigeons are in |
hocks; by scores and hundreds do they |
hy. You hear the loud whirr Of their /
wings as they pass. So to-day we see /
great flock coming into the Kingdom. 1t is |
not straggler trying to catch up with his |
regiment; it is a solid phalanx, taking the !
Kingdom. It is not drop on your hand or /
cheek that leaves you in doubt whether it /
rains or not, but the rush Of an unmistaka-
BILE shower
There are all ages in this flock Some Of
them are young, and the very first use 4
they make Of their wings is to fly into the /
Kingdom. Some of them are old, and /
their wings have been torn with shot and 4
ruffled with the tempest, and they had al /
most dropped into the sea- Some Of them I
have been making a very crooked course; /
they dipped their wings ia fountains Of 4
sin they wandered near the gulf of perdi- /
ton, but they saw their danger - they 4
changed their course. They have come at |
last ''as doves to their window"
I thank God that have lived 70 see this /
dav: to my dying hour I nhhH not CEASE TO